India Faces Water Crisis as Levels Drop Nationwide - Find Out Which Cities Are Most Affected

India is grappling with a severe water crisis, marked by a significant deficit in reservoir storage as summer approaches. The monitoring data from 150 main reservoirs revealed a total live storage of 39.765 billion cubic meters (BCM), which constitutes just 22% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs, according to official data. The Central Water Commission (CWC) released its weekly reservoir bulletin on Thursday, according to which there is a total live storage of 39.765 BCM, which constitutes just 22 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

Last week, the total capacity was 23% of the storage capacity of these reservoirs. As the temperature rose, a week-on-week decline has been seen in the reservoir level for the past three months. The southern region continues to be hit hard at just 13% capacity.

Tension Rises for Southern States

The region, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, has 42 reservoirs with a total capacity of 53.334 BCM. The current storage is alarmingly low at 7.114 BCM (13 per cent), significantly down from last year's 23 per cent and the ten-year average of 19 per cent.

The total live storage capacity of the monitored reservoirs is 178.784 BCM, approximately 69.35 per cent of the nation's overall live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM.

This week’s live storage stands at 79 per cent of the storage available during the corresponding period last year (50.549 BCM) and 93 per cent of the ten-year average (42.727 BCM).

Water Levels in North India

In the northern region, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan, the 10 reservoirs have a combined live storage capacity of 19.663 BCM. The current storage is 5.888 BCM (30 per cent of capacity), a drop from last year's 39 per cent and the ten-year average of 31 per cent.

In the eastern region, which includes Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, the 23 reservoirs monitored have a capacity of 20.430 BCM, with current storage at 5.035 BCM (24.6 per cent). This is an improvement over the last year's 21 per cent but slightly below the normal of 24.8 per cent.

Gujarat And Maharashtra

The western region, encompassing Gujarat and Maharashtra, has 49 reservoirs with a total capacity of 37.130 BCM. They are currently at 8.359 BCM (23 per cent), down from 25 per cent last year but above the 21 per cent ten-year average.

In the central region, covering Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, 26 reservoirs have a capacity of 48.227 BCM, with current storage at 13.369 BCM (27.7 per cent). This is less than the last year’s 35 per cent and just below the normal of 27.9 per cent.

The bulletin also gave a detailed analysis, noting that better than normal storage is found in basins such as the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Narmada, and Sabarmati. Close to normal storage is observed in the Indus, Godavari, and other rivers. Deficient storage is reported in the Mahanadi, Krishna, and Cauvery basins.

Highly deficient conditions prevail in the east flowing rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari, and between Mahanadi and Pennar.

Out of the 150 reservoirs, 47 have more storage than the last year, while 59 have storage levels above the ten-year average. Conversely, 19 reservoirs have storage levels less than or equal to 20 per cent compared to the last year, and 13 have storage levels less than or equal to 20 per cent of the ten-year average.

Additionally, 39 reservoirs have storage less than or equal to 50 per cent of the last year, and 28 have storage less than or equal to 50 per cent of the ten-year average.

Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Gujarat showed better storage compared to the last year. Conversely, states including Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and several southern states are experiencing lower storage levels.